By Jon Mettus
Syracuse University

July 8, 2016

COTUIT —  After both teams scored in the ninth inning, Kettleers and Wareham Gatemen tied, 3-3, in a sloppy game at Lowell Park on Friday that went 10 innings and was cut short due to darkness. Four of the six runs scored were unearned. The two teams combined for four errors.

With two outs in the top of the ninth, Ryan Rigby (Mississippi State) issued a walk and a ball on the first pitch to the next batter, Alex Destino (South Carolina), before being removed in favor of Alec Byrd (Florida State). Destino grounded a single up the middle and Dominic Miroglio (San Francisco) yelled “Let’s go” and pumped his fist as he slid across the plate.

But in the bottom of the ninth, Clay Fisher (UCSB) reached second on an error with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning. Quinn Brodey (Stanford) followed it with a line drive into right-center field to send the tying run home.

Jack Klein (Stanford) struck out but a ball in the dirt sent Brodey to second. Brodey moved to third on another ball in the dirt with Greyson Jenista (Wichita State) at the plate, but Jenista popped out with the game-winning run at third.

After the inning, the umpires met with the coaches and decided just one more inning would be played.

The Gatemen put runners on second and third in the top of the 10th, but Josh Roberson (UNC Wilmington) struck out the final batter of the inning to keep them off the board.

In the bottom of the 10th, Cotuit got one runner on base, but couldn’t score. Controversy hit when the home plate umpire called a balk and moved a runner to second, but then overturned the call after he spoke with the first base umpire.

The game was stuck scoreless until the fifth inning when Preston Grand Pre (Cal Berkeley) hit a single into center field. Jack Klein’s (Stanford) throw was just a few feet to the left of the plate. Robert Metz had to duck, but crossed the plate safely.

Cotuit countered in the bottom of the fifth and took the lead with two runs. Stevenson hit a grounder to short that rolled through the umpire’s legs and hit off a piece of his pants. Grand Pre fumbled the ball on the two-out play to let a run in. The next batter, A.J. Balta knocked in Greyson Jenista (Wichita State) with a single.

When Alonzo Jones Jr. (Vanderbilt) botched a two-out grounder to second and let the tying run in, Cotuit head coach Mike Roberts hurled his helmet into the dugout in frustration. Jones was taken out of the game the next inning.